Instrument for locating storm zones



'Dec. 15, 1931. I p wRlGHT 1,836,423

INSTRUMENT FOR LOCATI'NWSTORM ZONES Filed Dec; :51, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I ParUZ/z Wig/22,

- Dec. 15, 1931. P. WRIGHT INSTRfiMENT FOR LOCATING STORM ZONES Filea Dec. 31. 192 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 w a any'llikelihood-eta severeatmospheric d turbance occurring many partlcular 100 .According to a t-theory Patented Dec. 15, 1931 1 The principal object of myinvention isto provide an injstrume'nt by means of which -a person can determine whether jor notthere' s i lity at any given time;

- Another important obj 'ec'tf ofmy invention is to provide an educational device tor use in studyingethereal flows; 1" 1 Y which have evolved, and which "issupported by'consider able evidnce=,jethereal flows exist in the higher atmospherei i The earth rotates 'onfits axis from west to e sa and these flows are'beli'eved to move eastward much f aster thanthe earth turns; 1 communicating mo vem'e'nt to the air. From about; eo each sideoithe plane of the jecliptic which "is-"theponstantly shifting plane through the earths'torrid zone defined 'by=l.the apparent path ofth'e sun-to about S- each ide of -suc'h}-pl ane,;the ethereal flows are throwninto spiral formations or vortices which! cause cyclones, tornadoes and other kinds-otfstorms onltheearth in areas of low pressure. The plane of the ecliptic shifts in thecour'se of a year fmm a northernmost position 23 north of the Equator to a southernmost positi'on 23 south of the Equator,

andthe zones in which the vortices occurwhich I. willcall the north and south vortex zones-shift with such plane. Many points onthefearths surface do not intersect with thevortex zones at all, while other points intersect with them two, and sometimes four,

' times daily;

"The vortices originate in the ethereal flows above the strato-sphere and normally extend but a short distance into the earths atmosphere. During periods oflow pressure, however, the vortices are-likely to approach the "surface of the earth-and cause cyclones, tornadoes andother meteorological disturbances. If the barometer reading is high all oi the agitation resulting from a vortex will W pass fr ml to 2 m es v r e h e it j iii ifl f te a ma ent;

outlined theory.

"and the like, will cross the path 0 transAtlantic flight from 245,858. ii I the -1 ding is =11ow the agitation is likely to exte'nji} tothe earth. "The forward rim of eaohz vortexturns in a direction away from the planeflofi the ecliptic,-which movement to some extent determines "w'ndincertain adjacent localities. The novel instrument hereinafter described andwclaimed is predicated upon the above The instrument is not a the direction of the perfect weather prognosticator, but it is capable'of pointing out the time whenany particular locality,such as a city, town, 11 mg field orenter into these vortex storm zones.

Heretofore aeroplane pi long distance flights have hadlittle to warn them of approaching danger, and not infrequently they have encountered unexpected air currents, unseen vortices, unknown eddies, silent Whirlpools, and the like, have caused them to lose control of their aeroplanes, with disastrous consequences. Unquestionably, there have beenmany supposedly unavoidable accidents in connection lots engaged in to which with aeroplane flights which I might have been avoided had the pilots had abetter understanding of atmospheric conditions.

To check the accuracy, of an instrument constructed in accordance with my invention, I have made many tests in which I have set the instrument to obtain observations for the time and placejof recent aeroplane and tornado disasters The instrument shows that the cityof St. Louis, Missouri was in a vortexstorm zone at one oclock P. M. September 29,1927-which wasthe time that the disastrous tornado "occurred at that place. While the "mere knowledge of a storms' approach,or the probability'of a storm, does not mitigate the-resulting damages, it does allow more time for preparation.

The instrument also shows that the aeroplane Old Glory which recently undertook a west to east, was

overtaken by a'vortex, or a storm wind as- The ring 18, which tionary with respect tothe base, being sup --l8 and is divided the ring 18 is suflic'ient to against lnadvertent movement while in any position.

soc-iated therewith, southeast of Newfoundland at a time shortly after the commencement of the flight. The course pursued would have brought that aeroplane into a vortex zone at a position about long. 40 W. lat. 40 N. The instrument also shows that the aeroplane Miss Doran, which recently undertook a trans-Pacific flight, entered a vortex zone about 800 miles southwest of San Francisco before midnight on the evening of the day of its departure from Oakland, California, and that certain of the other planes engagedfin;thesame flight entered the zone near long. 135 W. lat. 30? N. 7 g

In the accompanying drawings: Fig.1 is a front view of an instrumentembodyingthe invention; and

Fig. 2 is a side view of "the instrument, with portions of the same shown in section. As will be observed in the drawings, the instrument includes a mapped globe 10 which is mounted on an axial spindle, 11. The spindle is jou'rnaled in a base 12, and theglobemay be rotated by turning a small hand crank 13 which is connected with the spindle by reduction gea-ring 14, 15, 16 and 17. A-ring 18'encircles the globe at an angle of-23 totheEquator, and represents, for certain purposes, the plane of the ecliptic.

I call the date ring, is staported by the same onarms 19, and'is divided bycircumferential markings into the months and days of the-year, the markingfor June 22-which is the summer solstice being the point 20 on the ring nearest the North Pole 21 on the globe, and the marking for December 22-which is the winter solsticebeing the point 22 on the ring farthest from the North Pole. The -construction of the arms 19 is best shown in Figure 2. The arm toward the observer is cut away, -t oned rectangle,

as'shown by the secto clarify the View but the reararm is shown bydotted lines extending up to join the ring 18. l

. The-date ring 18 carries a ring 23 which I callthe hour ring. The ring 23 is circumferentially shiftable with respect to the ring by circumferentially spaced markings. into the hours of the day and night, the marking on the ring which indi cates .12 oclock designated as such,

noon being conspicuously and the portion of the ring which extends'from the marking for 6 oclock P. M. to that for 6 oclockA. M. be-

ing shaded to indicate night. i The ring 23 b inay be shifted by hand into any desired position, and the'friction of the ring 23 against hold the ring 23 V The date ring 18 alsoicarries a ring 24 which forms. a central support for two oppositely extending bands 25 and 26 which are made of some transparent material. The bands 25 and 26 curve about the globe in slightly spaced relation to the surface of the same, and are marked with zones 27 and 28 which extend parallel with the plane .of the ecliptic and represent respectively the north and south vortex zones. The zones begin about 20 each side of the plane and extend inwardly to about 8 each side of the same, the edges of the zones being defined on the bands by parallel lines. The ring 24 which supports the zone bands is journaled in the ring 18 and is caused, when the globe is rotated, to rotate inthe same direction at from two to three times the speed of the globe, the movement being imparted to the ring 24 by a belt 29 which 'fits'intoa groove 30 in the ring and passes over a pulley 31 which is rotated by the crank l3'throughgearing 32 and 33. The movement of the ring, 24 and the portions of the bands 25 and 26' inwardly of the vortex zones represents the movement oftheethereal flows about-theearth, while the zones representthe limits within which the vortices in the ethereal flows will-occun .The'vortices themselves maybe represented to goodfadvantage, when the instrument is to be used for educational purposes, by small wire spirals 35 carried by the ring'24 and converging toward the surface of the globe within the areas defined by the zones.

The instrument, in being used toascertain the likliho'od of a severe atmospheric disturbance-at a given time and place, is manipulated inthe following manner: The hour ring 23 is shifted relative to the date ring 18 ;until the mark on the hour ring designating 12oclock noon is in register with the mark on the datering designating the particular date an-d'month under consideration. The location on the globe of the .particular city, town, flying field, or other point underconsideration, is then carefully noted, and the crank is turned in such a way as to cause that point on the globe tomove from west -to east. WVhen that point intersects with either the north or south vortex zone, as the case maybe, the crank is broughtto rest and the p I which-the-point appears is traced down to-the hour ring. The marking on the hour ring-in register the dayor night when the point under considerationwill. enter the zone. By turning the hand crank still farthenthe hour when the point will move out of the zone may also e ascertained. Between those hours severe atmospheric disturbances arequite likely to .occur if thebarometric pressure happens to be low, but for allother hours, unless the point under-consideration passes through the other vortex zone, there should be no severe atmospheric disturbancesregardless of the extent to -Wl1l0l1 the barometric pressure drops. I I For example, in taking the; reading for articular meridian of longitude on with that meridian is the hour of- 7 down to the Springfield,Illinois, on the 22nd day of June, the 12 oclock noon marking on the hour ring is shifted into register with the 22nd day of June marking on the date ring (see Fig. 1) and, for convenience in keeping Springfield located on the globe, a short headed pin 34 is pushed into the material of the globe at the proper point, which is approximately long. 90 IV. lat. 40 N. The globe is then rotated, and the position of the 90 W. meridian of longitude near which Springfield is located is noted with respect to the markings on the hour circle, both when Springfield enters the north vortex zonewhich is found to be at 9 oclock in the morning, and when it leaves that zone--which is found to be at 8 oclock in the afternoon.

It is not necessary to actually rotate the globe in order to find out when Springfield, for instance, enters and leaves the north vortex zone, because the 40 N. parallel of latitude near which Springfield is located can be traced around the globe (see Fig. 2),

and the meridians of longitude intersecting with the 40 N. parallel of latitude at the points of entr and departure may be traced hour ring. and the same readings obtained.

Between the vortex zones 25 and 26, shifting along midway between the Equator and the ecliptic, we should expect violent hurricanic winds from the westward when the barometer is low. North of the north vortex zone there should be strong winds from the northwest and south of the south vortex zone there should be strong winds from the southwest, especially in the higher atmosphere, converging near the Equator.

All of these winds, as well as the vortices, are caused directlyby the great velocity of the earth in its orbit-nearly 19 miles per secondmoving through the solar ethereal atmosphere of varying density. The resistance to this movement supplies force for the tornado and cyclone and it gives a general west to east movement to the. prevailing winds, and, through the atmosphere, to the earth itself.

On the globe shown in the drawings, the meridians of longitude appear only at 15 intervals and the parallels of latitude appear only at 10 intervals, but, in practice, the meridians and parallels appearing on the globe should not be at more than 5 intervals.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, a mapped globe mounted for rotation onits polar axis, and means mounted for rotation about the globe at from two to three times the speed of rotation of the latter on an axis set 23 to such polar axis for simulating in the locality of the plane of the ecliptic the movement of ethereal flows and for indicating limiting zones for vortices occurring in such in substantially the plane of the ecliptic, an hour ring associated with the date ring in circumferentially adjustable relation to the same, and means for defining zones about the globe parallel to and on opposite sides of the ecliptic.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto sub scribed my name. 7

PARVIN WRIGHT.

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